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April 07, 2011

Strategy vs. tactics

I am often critical of our industry (owners, managers and even many consultants) for its lack of strategic thinking and its addiction to ad hoc tactics.

It occurred to me that many people don’t actually understand the difference between strategy and tactics (of course it doesn’t help that the two terms are used synonymously)… and in fact many people think they are being strategic when they are actually being tactical.

Basically, the difference is this… strategy is employed to, efficiently and effectively, achieve a particular outcome (mission/objective) and tactics are employed to, efficiently and effectively, achieve a particular strategy.

For example, if the mission/objective is to get more members there is any number of ways to achieve this very broad objective. And because no business has unlimited resources it must be achieved within certain constraints (budgetary, human resources, legal, time, cultural).

Strategy must address those constraints and still deliver on the mission/objective by answering the critical who, what, where, when, why, and how questions.

Who do we want to target?

What do we need to do to appeal to our target market, what problems do they have?

Where are they… and can we reach them?

When is the best time to get their attention and convince them to take action?

Why should they care about you? Why are you better than your competitors?

How can you solve their problems?

Strategy has directionality. By answering these questions it forces you to think about where your resources are best deployed for maximum ROI. It moves your business in a specific direction.

Only once you have your strategy nailed down should you start to consider which tactics will best fit your strategy.

This is where most owners and managers (and many consultants) go wrong… they skip the strategy step completely.

For example, we need to get more members (mission/objective) lets put an ad in the paper (tactic)… and when that doesn’t work, lets send out a flyer (tactic)… and when that doesn’t work, lets try a radio ad (tactic)… and when that doesn’t work, lets get on Facebook (tactic)… and when that doesn’t work…

Most consultants actually encourage this by promoting the latest and greatest tactic… pitching it like it will solve all the owner’s or manager’s problems. There are very few strategic thinkers in our industry… Thom Plummer and maybe one or two others.

The end result is a marketing mess, wasted money, endless frustration, and a perpetual search for the next “BIG THING”.

Strategy is not easy, it doesn’t come naturally to most (especially when most so-called industry experts are pitching tactics), and it is almost impossible to do on the frontlines (where you probably spend most of your time). There’s a reason the armed forces don’t deploy Generals to the frontlines… it’s hard to think strategically when the bullets are flying.

To complicate matters further, people like to think of themselves as strategic (I guess it sounds cool) when they’re actually not… a friend of mine (who works in compliance and risk management) told me quite earnestly that she was strategic because she redesigned a form to make it easier to use.

Throwing tactics at a problem and hoping one works isn’t strategic… in fact hope is rarely the best strategy.